


First Kiss?

by IAmAwesomeMe



Series: DinLuke slow burn but I also have an actual plot [4]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, M/M, fluff then a gut punch, not smut but smut-adjacent, what's the opposite of hurt and comfort?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29481291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmAwesomeMe/pseuds/IAmAwesomeMe
Summary: After a very scary near-death experience, Din ends up back at the Jedi training camp. Luke wants to show how much he appreciates Din, how much he cares for Din. He might get a little too carried away, or did he get the exact right amount of carried away?
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: DinLuke slow burn but I also have an actual plot [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121021
Comments: 6
Kudos: 92





	First Kiss?

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be up for Valentines day but I guess it wasn't. I'm not that good at keeping on a schedule, sorry guys.

It was a quiet morning as Luke enjoyed the morning meditation. It was always his favourite time of the day, the stillness and calmness that enveloped his students wasn’t found any other time of the day. The camp tended to be very busy and noisy with everyone doing their own work to master their skills, but in the morning, everything was quiet and peaceful.

Luke focused inward, on his breathing and peace of mind. He went through his morning meditation ritual. Once he was done, he cast his mind over his other students, making sure they, too, had balanced themselves before taking them down to breakfast. He expected to see about half having competed their morning meditation, half still working on it. Instead, he found something troubling. There was a darkness.

Luke’s eyes bolted open. He looked around at his students. Everything was fine with them. Then he noticed one student who was behaving differently from the rest. Grogu.

Instead of the usual peaceful expression, Grogu’s face was twisted in horrified concentration. He was sweating from the effort.

“Grogu, what is it?” Luke asked out loud. The other kids were pulled out of their meditations and turned to see what was happening. “Grogu, what’s wrong?”

Luke knelt in front of the kid, holding his hand and peering further into his mind. Out of all his students Grogu was best at morning meditation, so after he finished he would cast his eyes to where ever his father was. It was comforting for him to see his dad everyday, even if they couldn’t be together in person. And Din, too, felt Grogu’s presence in those moment even if he didn’t realize it. He would just think of his son in those moments, and the thought would comfort him. He had seen his father sleeping, driving his ship, eating, tracking his bounty, and so many more mundane, ordinary situations. But as Luke peered into what Grogu was seeing his father do now, it wasn’t mundane at all. Din was running for his life.

-

Half a galaxy away, Din was running as fast as his legs could take him. He was hired by a village to protect them from a band of raiders who were stealing their children and selling them to the empire. The plan was simple. Lure them onto the floating island at the edge of the village. Blow up said island with all the raiders on it. Din would be the one to actually trigger the explosion then jetpack away. But his jetpack was damaged in the fight and if he didn’t make it back to the single rope bridge that connected the island to the rest of the village he was going to die along with the raiders.

So he ran as fast as he could. He wouldn’t die today.

-

Grogu was shaking with distress as he saw what was happening to his dad. He could feel his father’s fear that he was going to die today. Luke could feel it too. So could the other students as they all grouped around Grogu. Sani put a hand on Grogu’s shoulder, lending Grogu her strength. Wen’rhy put their hand on Grogu’s other shoulder. And then all the other student put their hands on Sani’s and Wen’rhy’s shoulders and arms, till everyone was working together to give Grogu their strength.

This helped a little, easing Grogu’s load as being the only one keeping the link to Din open for all the see, but it didn’t change the fact that his father might die in a few short seconds. It didn’t change Grogu’s distress.

-

The explosion went off, creating a hole in the island through which the dirt, trees, and raiders fell. It grew in size, moving outwards as Din ran even faster to escape it. It was growing at a surprising rate, faster than Din could run. But Din could see the rope bridge ahead of him. All he had to do was make it to the bridge before the ground underneath him collapsed.

-

“He’s not going to make it,” Sani said.

But Luke wouldn’t let that happen. “He will if we help him.” Luke could feel fear entering his own heart but wouldn’t let that control him. “On my signal, we all work together and give him an extra push forward. Got it?”

-

Din looked behind him, seeing the destruction that was trailing just at his heels. He could feel his lungs running out of air. He could feel his legs wanting to collapse with exhaustion. He could feel his spirit starting to leave his body. But he could also feel the ground under his feet beginning to cave in on itself. And he could see the rope bridge up ahead. He just needed to get a little closer.

20 meters away. Now 15. Now 10 but he wasn’t going to make it. He took two more big steps and leapt into the air as the ground under him crumbled away. He was soaring through the air, his arms and legs flailing as he tried to grasp onto the rope bridge. But he knew his trajectory. And he knew that he wasn’t going to make it.

-

“Now!” Luke shouted.

Together, an entire school of Jedi younglings and padawans all concentrated as hard as they could and pushed the Mandalorian to safety.

-

Relative safety, because the second that Din was laying safely on the rope bridge, without even enough time to wonder what had just happened, the ground that was anchoring the rope to one side fell out and the rope bridge began to fall.

Din held on tight to the wood panel he was lying on, know that if he let go, he would fall to his death. He would wait till the rope fell to the side of the cavern and then use it like a ladder to climb out. He had already done it once in his life, when he had fetched a bounty that lived in a castle on Mustafar. He braced for impact against the side of the pit.

But the difference between this rope bridge and that one is that that one was well maintained and this wasn’t. When it collided with the side of the pit the planks that Din was bracing against broke under Din’s sudden weight and Din was once again falling.

-

The jedi school collectively gasped. They had thought him safe only moments ago.

Luke didn’t want to see Din die. He didn’t want Grogu to see him die. He contemplated, briefly, canceling Grogu’s connection so no one had to see what would happen next.

But then he remembered Din. He remembered how strong he is. He fought a dragon and won. He went toe to toe with more enemies than Luke could count and won every time. Luke knew better than to count him out.

-

Din’s right hand found purchase on the rope that was being used as a hand rail and gripped it tight. It hurt like hell and he could swear he almost dislocated his shoulder, but it stopped his descent. He hung there, dangling.

-

The Jedi students cheered when they saw it. Grogu’s face was filled with relief as was Luke’s and everyone else. Din still had a long journey to back to solid ground but he was out of imminent danger. He had lived.

-

Din’s hands gripped the rope. He twirled it around his foot, and held it in place with his other foot. Keeping his legs locked, he relaxed. He took a moment to catch his breath, wonder briefly about how he had survived that fall, then gather himself and proceed to climb to the top.

He went slower than he would have normally, he was already exhausted, but eventually he made it to solid ground. The villagers had come to gather round and see what had happened, but Din didn’t care. He lay on his back, staring up at the sky.

-

Once he knew his dad would be okay, Grogu collapsed. He was exhausted from maintaining that connection for so long, and from the whirlwind of emotions after almost loosing his father twice in the span of a minute.

Luke told the rest of the kids that the rest of morning meditations were cancelled. He instructed them to go back to camp and start breakfast as he took care of Grogu. He cradled the young padawan in the crook of his arm and walked back to camp.

* * *

Din collapsed onto his bed back on the Razor Crest. He was burnt out. He was exhausted. He felt like he could fall asleep right now and not wake up for a week.

His right shoulder hurt. He hadn’t dislocated it exactly, but he had seriously hurt it. He would probably need a sling, he reasoned, and he wasn’t looking forward to that. A Mandalorian is more deadly with one arm than most people are with two, but most people still take a visible injury as an opportunity to test themselves against a Mandalorian. He had only been really injured a few times before, but he always got way more people wanting to fight him than normal during those times. It was a headache, but if he didn’t properly sling his arm the injury would just get worst and he couldn’t have that.

Din closed his eyes. He would rest, just for a few moments. When he woke up, he would bandage his arm, but for not he would sleep.

Just then, his holo messenger went off. Someone was trying to call him.

Din sat up. The messenger was all the way up in the cockpit which was up a ladder that Din didn’t particularly feel ready to climb. He closed his eyes a lay back down. The person would just leave a message for him to answer.

But when the answering machine started up, the person just hung up and recalled. Din was annoyed, but there was no possible way that he could get up to answer it so he just stayed where he was.

The answering machine turned on again and Din heard a familiar voice. “Din? It’s Luke Skywalker.” Din sat bolt upright. Why was Luke calling him? “I’m here with Grogu.” Shit. Din should probably answer this than. He began scanning the bottom shuttle for something to make a quick sling out of. “During morning meditation, Grogu reached out to you through the force and saw that you were in danger.” Is that what that weird push was that saved his life? “We saw the whole thing, and Grogu was really scared and just wanted to call you to see you again.” Din found a belt that he quickly wrapped around his hand and threw over his helmet. It was bad, but it was good enough to get him up the ladder. And he had to get up the ladder. For Grogu. And Luke too, maybe a little. “So, umm, just call us back when you get this message. Grogu really wants to see you, just to check in and make sure you are all right.” Din was climbing the ladder now, quick as he could. “I guess I should leave it there, call us back-”

Din slammed on the ‘pick up call’ button. “I’m here,” he said.

“Din?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, I’m right here.” He sat down in his chair, coming into view of the holo-messenger. “I just had a little trouble getting up the ladder.”

“Is your shoulder alright?” Luke was concerned.

“It’s fine,” Din said, then reconsidered that statement. “Well, it’s not fine now but it will be okay eventually.”

“Right.” Luke’s concerns were not soothed, but he moved on. “Grogu, your dad’s here.” Grogu had been sitting on the edge of Luke’s bed, tired but awake. He perked up as Luke walked over to get him and bring him into frame. When Grogu saw his dad, he smiled.

Luke sat down again, with Grogu on his lap. “Hey, kiddo.” Din said, with a small wave. Grogu waved back with both arms, and motioned that he wanted to be brought closer to the holo projection.

“He’s not really there,” Luke told Grogu, unsure of what he wanted exactly. Then Grogu showed him and Luke understood. He brought Grogu up to the holo projection, and Grogu put his forehead up to where his father’s forehead was. The projection didn’t exactly match up on Din’s side, his kid was halfway into his helmet not just barely touching it, but understood what Grogu was going for. It warmed his heart to see it.

Luke sat back down with Grogu. “Are you going to go to a hospital for that shoulder?”

“No,” Din said.

“What? Why?”

“Let’s just say that doctors don’t take kindly to treating someone who can’t remove their clothing or armour in order to facilitate treatment.” Luke was clearly very concerned and Din tried to sooth his worries. “It’s ok, we get taught self-first-aid as a foundling. I’m probably just going to sling it up for a week.”

Grogu gave Luke an idea. “You should come here,” Luke told Din. “The jedi have only limited force healing capabilities but you wouldn’t need to remove your clothing for it. And I’ve been meaning to show the younglings how it works.”

Din thought about it, but he wasn’t sure.

“Please,” Luke continued. “Grogu was really scared when he saw you almost die, we all were.” Luke remembered the feeling of emptiness he had in him when he thought about loosing Din forever. It was like losing his father and Obi-wan and Yoda. He knew it shouldn’t make sense, he barely knew Din, but he liked Din. Hell, he loved Din. And the thought of losing him before he even got a chance to tell him… It was too much. “Grogu really wants to see you.”

“I’ll come,” Din agreed.

“Are you sure you can get here ok? You don’t need me to come pick you up?” Luke was thrilled with this news.

“I can get there fine,” Din assured him. “I can pilot this one handed.”

Luke smiled. “Well then, see you soon.”

“See you soon,” Din agreed.

* * *

He pulled up to the Jedi school and Luke was already waiting at the platform with Grogu, who ran over to him as soon as he stepped off the ship. Luke also rushed over to him. He went in for a hug but hesitated, instead giving Din a pat on the back.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Luke looked at Din with his shining baby blue eyes and Din could feel his heart melt just a little more.

“Nice to see you too,” Din responded.

They made their way down to the camp. When they arrived, Din was greeted by all of the students. They all gave him a big group hug before going back to their jobs. “It was really scary, for all of them,” Luke explained. “I don’t think most of them had ever seen someone almost die.”

Din nodded. Death… It was a hard lesson to learn, especially for someone as young as these kids were.

“Here, lets look at your shoulder,” Luke said. “I promised that Sani and some of the more advanced students a demonstration. I hope that’s ok.”

“It’s fine,” Din said, following Luke and the half dozen or so students back to Luke’s tent. He sat down on Luke’s desk chair as Luke examined the wound. Grogu sat on his lap, looking up at Luke curiously. The rest of the students stood in front of them, keeping track of everything Luke did.

Luke examined the wound, but found it difficult to penetrate through the beskar metal. “I’m sorry, but I am actually going to have to ask you to remove just the shoulder part of your armour.” Din removed it. Luke went back to his work, feeling out what was wrong with the wound. He found it, a tear in the muscle just at the shoulder. “Okay, I see what’s wrong. It should be simple enough to heal.”

“I’m sorry but how did you figure out what’s wrong with him?” Sani asked.

“Come over here,” Luke instructed. “Place your hands there and there. Now try pacing the force through them, just like that. See how you can feel the force move alongside the smooth mussel? Now move your hands here.” He repositioned her hand over the injured spot. “Now, when you try and pass the energy back and forth again. But see how there’s some resistance? Like somethings not right over this area. That means it’s injured.”

“The resistance is bad?” Sani asked again.

“Resistance means somethings not as it should be. In this case, it means a tear.”

“How do you know it means a tear?”

“Experience,” Luke said. “Now let everyone else get a turn seeing what an injury feels like.”

Sani stepped back as the other students formed a line so they could each get a turn examining Din’s injury. Din didn’t like being fussed over like this, but Luke put a comforting hand on his good shoulder to sooth him. Din looked up at the young Jedi Master, thinking about what he just said. He could imagine Sani or the other children imagining that Luke got his experience by staying at a rebel base and taking care of whatever sick and injured happen to need his help. But Din recognized the darkness that had crept into Luke’s words. He imagined that Luke got the experience on the battlefield, trying desperately to save his friends and comrades. Din didn’t exactly know the story, but suspected it to be much darker than he let on for the children.

“Now, I’m going to walk you through everything I’m doing,” Luke announced, once everyone had a turn. “Sadly, you can’t all practice this part but it will give you a basic understanding of the steps you need to take with every injury and an understanding of what force healing can or cannot do. It can’t magically heal everything and make everything as it was, but it can shorten healing times and make sure something heals properly. This injury, for example, would usually a week or two of rest where the arm must remain immobilized. Through the force we can shorten that to two or three days.” Din liked the sound of that.

“The steps for healing are fairly simple,” Luke went on to explain. “First, you need to identify the injury. Second, you need to anesthetize the area where you will be working. Will the area you are working with to be numb. Then, you heal. You just want to coax the cells and muscles and all other parts back to the way they were before. Right now, I’m passing energy back and forth over the tear, but this time with more force. I’m trying to get the cells to re-form over the tear. If the area wasn’t numb, this would be really painful. I’m not just looking at the tear, I’m actually moving the cells under his skin.”

Din could feel it too, feel it moving, repairing itself. But it didn’t hurt. It felt strange, like it was happening to someone else. Yet the feeling was so unique it couldn’t have ever happened to anyone else. Din couldn’t describe it, not really. He just new that it was a brand-new sensation for him. He tended not to like new things all that much, but the way Luke guided him gently soothed him. He didn’t mind this new experience so long as Luke was there to help him.

“There,” Luke said. “You’ll still need to rest it, but probably only for a day or two. Here, let me help you bandage it.” He got two scarfs from his closet that he can use to bandage the injured Mandalorian. “You are all dismissed,” he told his students. They all filled out except for Grogu who stayed on his father’s lap.

Luke took one piece of fabric, and wrapped it from his wrist, up to his neck, and down his back. He brought the other end of the fabric and tied it to the first, making sure it was an appropriate and comfortable length for Din. Luke then took the second bolt of fabric and wrapped it around Din’s torso, working with the first bandage to keep the arm in place. “Comfortable?” Luke asked.

Din nodded, and put the shoulder armour back on.

Luke made himself busy by folding and putting back the scarves he had taken out while looking for two of the appropriate sizes. He knew that technically he should have used proper bandages, but he didn’t have any on hand. And besides, the black suited him really well.

“Will you be alright?” Luke asked.

“Fine,” Din said. “I’m just thinking about how my right hand is where my gun is. I can’t do the quick draw anymore, and that might cause a problem if I get into a fight.”

“You should stay here,” Luke told him. “Till you’re better. Or at least till your good enough to defend yourself again.” Din considered it. “If not for your own sake, then to spend more time with your son.”

That was what truly convinced him. “I’ll stay,” Din promised.

* * *

Night had fallen. Luke changed into his night clothes, thinking over the events of the day. He looked outside his window, seeing Din saying goodnight Grogu outside his tent. It was a long goodbye, involving a fair bit of Din just holding his child and telling to not be afraid, that Din was always going to come back to him, that nothing could stop him. Thinking they were alone, Din removed his helmet.

Luke quickly ducked down. He knew he shouldn’t see this, that it wasn’t meant for his eyes. But he thought of Din and the yearning became too much. He carefully pecked his head up, just over the window sill. He saw Din kissing his son’s forehead and holding him close.

Luke’s heart silently ached as he slumped back against the wall. He could only think about Din. Yet his heart ached and he couldn’t bear to think about him. Still, somehow, he couldn’t bear to not think about him, not for one single second.

Luke sighed. His little crush on Din had well and truly grown into something beyond his control. Din was all that Luke could think about whenever he was alone. He wasn’t alone that often, he had an academy to run after all, so it was mostly only at night. But every night he would go to sleep with the thought of the gorgeous Mandalorian taking over his mind.

Luke dragged himself up onto the bed. He got under the covers and tried to get to sleep. But sleep didn’t want to come to Luke. Instead, only thoughts of Din were with him. Luke didn’t want this, didn’t want to feel like this anymore.

He had been feeling this for a while, truth be told. But it was all coming up today for some reason. Well, he knew why. He had seen Din almost die today and that was making all the feelings inside him weigh him down like an elephant on his chest.

He should say something, right? If he was feeling this bad, he should say something. Keeping this all inside him, it couldn’t be good for him. He was a jedi, he shouldn’t keep things bottled up like this. Sure, he had practically talked Leia’s ear off about this but it’s not the same thing as actually talking to Din.

He sat up in bed. He had to tell Din, he just had to. He couldn’t keep it in any longer. He got out of bed and put on over coat. This one resembled a bathrobe, with a belt that he tied to keep it all together.

As he got dressed, he thought about what exactly he should say. He couldn’t tell Din he was in love with him, that was crazy. He should just say that Luke missed him and would have hated to see him go like that. He and Din were friends, after all. He would do the same thing for Han, wouldn’t he? I mean, technically he and Han had dated for a brief period of time when they first met but that’s a different matter.

Luke made his way to Din’s ship. Luckily, Din was still up, running some maintenance on the ship. “Luke?” he said, as the young jedi approached him, coming out of the pitch-black darkness and into the lights of the Razor Crest.

“I just,” Luke didn’t know what to do. “I just want to say…” It had been so clear in his mind back in his bedroom but now, standing before Din, he couldn’t for a clear thought.

Din sensed something was wrong. He stepped forward, till he was less than an arm length away from Luke. “Is something wrong?” he asked. Luke was on edge for some reason.

Luke’s head swirled. He did the only thing he could think of. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Din, hugging him tightly.

“Luke…” Din didn’t know what to say.

“I was so sacred, seeing you like that,” Luke said, almost crying. “I- I never want to lose you like that.”

Din inhaled sharply. He had no idea anyone in the entire galaxy, save possibly Grogu, cared about him this much. But seeing how distraught it made Luke… It was surprisingly comforting. He reached up with his good hand and held Luke back. His arm was around Luke’s waist and pulling him closer. Truth is, if he had been the one to watch as Luke almost died, he probably would have reacted similarly. Just thinking about it, Din couldn’t bear it.

Luke felt Din’s hand on the small of his back and shivers went up his spine. This is what he wanted. To hold Din. To be held by Din. To be alone with Din. To kiss Din.

No, Luke told himself. Not that last part. He couldn’t. It would mess up everything.

But that didn’t stop Luke from wanting it. He wanted it more than he could know. He wanted it with every inch of his body. The only thing he could think was his own lips wrapping around Din’s and kissing him till Din couldn’t think straight either. He had to. He couldn’t but he had to.

He had to at least compromise, turning his head to kiss the check of Din’s helmet. The beskar was cold beneath his lips, but Luke barely registered it. He quickly buried his head in Din’s hug once more. There, he kissed him. That should be it, right. But it wasn’t. It only made Luke want to kiss him even more.

The thing he really wanted wasn’t Din’s helmet. But the thing he really wanted would never be possible.

Din never had anyone kiss his cheek. The idea that someone would… Din held Luke closer than before, wanting him to know how much he appreciates it, how special he is to Din.

Luke still wasn’t done, though. He buried his head in the fabric from Din’s cape that clung around his collar bone. He couldn’t help it. He kissed Din again. Then he couldn’t stop himself. He kissed Din’s collar bone, his shoulder, his neck. He couldn’t stop himself.

No. He had to. He stepped back, forcing distance between him and Din. He was breathing heavy, and the only thing he could feel was regret. How could he have done this. It was a total invasion of everything Din had said he wanted. How could Luke have done that.

“Luke?” Din asked softly.

“I should not be here,” Luke admitted. “I’m sorry.” He turned and left.

Din was confused. About multiple things. For one, what had just happened. Luke was kissing him, repeatedly and all over. Did that mean- Did that mean Luke wanted to kiss him properly? Or did Luke just really like his armour? And what was that just now? Luke basically ran away from Din as fast as he could. Did he no longer want Din? Did he regret what he did so much he couldn’t bear to look at Din a second longer?

But all this brought up another question. One that Din avoided asking himself. If Luke wanted to kiss him, did he want to kiss Luke back? That was the million credit question. Yes, Din realised. Yes, he wanted to kiss Luke back. Hell, he wanted to kiss Luke period. But, how could he? He was a Mandalorian, sworn to never remove his helmet. Sure, apparently it was a cult according to Bo-Katan but that didn’t stop him from not feeling comfortable with his helmet off. It would have to say on.

But that didn’t stop him from not wanting to tear it off and make out with Luke’s gorgeous face. Yet, it was impossible. He couldn’t see anyway around it. Well, there was one way. But Luke would have to be okay with it.

* * *

Luke was spread out on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. How could he have done that. He knew that it was a mistake before he did it, that it would seriously jeopardise his relationship with Din and Grogu, but did that stop him? No. How could he have done that. He knew it was a mistake while he was doing it, that there was no going back after he did this, bit did that stop him? No. How could he have done that. He now well and truly knew just how much of a mistake it was, but now it was too late to go back and do anything.

He knew he should probably call Leia. It would be morning for her right now, and she would definitely want to hear about this, if only to call him an idiot. They like to keep each other up to date on what’s happening in their lives, the good and the bad. But he didn’t want to do that just yet. He wanted to lay in his misery for a few minutes more.

Then he heard the flaps of his tent move apart. Did a student want something? Did they have a nightmare or something? He propped himself up on his elbows and looked, but didn’t see any children. Instead, he found a Mandalorian standing in his doorway.

The tent was dark, with only a single lantern on Luke’s desk to illuminate Din’s armour. The two men stayed there for a moment, just looking at each other, sizing the other one up. “What are you doing here?” Luke asked, sitting up in his bed.

“Stand up,” Din instructed.

Luke was taken aback, but followed Din’s instruction. He was standing at the foot of his bed, and Din stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Luke didn’t know what was happening.

Din’s good hand found its way to the belt around Luke’s waist. With one smooth motion, he undid knot keeping it in place. Luke’s robe fell open, revealing his pyjamas underneath. Suddenly, every hair on Luke’s body stood on end. Din took the belt out of the loops on the rope that kept it in place as Luke’s mind started racing. Was Din going to undress him? Were they going to have sex?

But Din didn’t drop the belt on the floor, and he didn’t try and remove Luke’s robe next. Instead, he held the belt up to Luke’s face, over his eyes, and Luke understood. He took the belt and tied it up as a blindfold. The fabric wasn’t the softest, but it wasn’t too rough either. And Luke couldn’t see out of it, which was the important part.

“Secure?” Din asked.

Luke did a couple figure-8s with his head. “Yeah,” he confirmed.

“Good,” Din said, removing his helmet and placing it carefully on the ground.

Luke knew that that was going to happen. He had figured out that Din wanted him blindfolded in order to remove his helmet in order to do… something (he hadn’t figured out that part yet). But somehow, actually knowing that Din is in front of him, helmetless, bare face to the world, with only air between his lips and Luke’s. Somehow that made it all more real for Luke. And that made him excited.

It was all becoming real for Din too. What had existed only as an idea before was now becoming an actuality. Din was losing his nerve. But then he looked at Luke. Luke, who actually looked like maybe he wants whatever comes next. Maybe even wants it as much as Din does.

He went slowly. He had, technically, kissed people before, but not since swearing the creed. That was about 8 or so years ago, so needless to say he was a little rusty. And even before he swore the creed, he never really kissed that many guys so he was never that experienced to begin with. So, he would go slowly.

He put one hand on Luke’s waist, stepping closer. They were inches apart now. Din could feel Luke’s soft inhale as he moved his face closer. His lips hovered over Luke’s a moment, enjoying the feeling of closeness and intimacy. Then Din softly press his lips against Luke’s.

Luke felt their lips connect and felt his stomach flutter. The kiss was soft, sweet, almost chaste. Their lips didn’t even part. Luke felt like a teenager again, as his cheeks filled with a soft blush. Then Din went in for another kiss, this time with more force. Luke’s lips parted around his.

Din kissed him again and again, each time deeper than the last. It was Luke that first slipped his tongue into the kiss, though. Din held back for a second, before returning the favour with his own tongue. They were well and truly making out now, and Luke could only feel the blush in his cheeks deepen and the fluttering in his stomach escalate.

Luke’s hands started to move, feeling their way up Din’s arms to his back. He threw them over Luke’s shoulders, pulling them even closer. Din wasn’t used to this and hesitated but then Luke’s hand came down to hold his cheek. The sudden touch that Din was definitely not used to caught him off guard. He pulled away, breaking off the kiss.

Luke realized his mistake, pulling his hand away. “I’m sorry,” he said, still fairly breathless from all the kissing.

“No, it’s ok,” Din tried to assure him.

“I should have realized.”

“I’m just not really use to it.”

“I won’t do it again.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“I just really don’t want to stop what we were doing,” Luke confessed.

Din smiled. “Well, I don’t want to stop either.”

Din saw Luke’s face light up. “So…”

Din brought Luke’s hand up to his face, placing it on his cheek. Luke softly stroked it with his thumb, as Din smiled at him. He kissed the base of Luke’s thumb. “So, let’s continue.”

He pulled Luke close and began kissing him again. Luke’s hand remained on Din’s cheek before traveling further, running his fingers through Din’s hair. Din liked that a lot. Luke’s hand eventually made it to the back of Din’s neck.

Luke liked it a lot but wanted more. He began kissing Din’s jaw, his neck, even nibbling on his ear a little. Din responded positively to all this, moaning ever so softly as Luke realised, he could give Din as many hickeys as he wanted and none of them would ever be seen. He filled that information away for later, because there definitely would be a later.

This was getting hot, Luke realized. Really hot. Did Din come down here to just kiss him? Or did he come for something more? It was hard to tell. He couldn’t really concentrate on anything with Din’s tongue trying to force its way into Luke’s throat. He was feeling lightheaded, and it wasn’t just the oxygen deprivation.

There must be a way to test to see if Din is into something more. He lost the robe, dropping it to the ground. Din hesitated, but went with it. Luke smiled. He was going to get some tonight.

Din noticed Luke drop his robe, but didn’t pay too much attention to it. He was probably just hot. Din was heating up too. His face was getting flushed, and he was grateful that Luke couldn’t see how red his cheeks were. He was also grateful that he wasn’t wearing his helmet so he can feel the cool air.

Luke was all over Din, wanting to be with him even more than he already was. And they were going to do it, they were going to have sex. He could picture it, blindfolded on the bed with Din on top of his, striping of his armour and Luke’s clothes. But Luke couldn’t wait. He needed Din now. He grabbed his shirt, breaking the kiss for only a moment as he tore it off.

But when he came back to kiss Din more, Din’s lips weren’t there. He had taken a step back. Luke leaned forward to kiss him, but a firm hand on Luke’s chest stopped him.

“Why did you do that?” Din asked. His voice was level, and Luke couldn’t tell what he was feeling about that.

“I thought we were going to…” Luke gestured vaguely to the bed behind him.

Din’s heart sank. “I should not be here.”

“No. No, no, no. We don’t have to.” Luke was in damage control. “Look, I can put it back on.” He scrambled around on the ground for where he had so carelessly thrown his shirt away. Why had he done this? He was an idiot.

“I’m going.” Din said. Luke could identify a change in his voice. He had put on his helmet.

“No, please,” Luke tried, still on all fours looking for his shirt. His hand grasped around, looking for a change in fabric that would mean he had found it. And he did. “Look, see. I can just put it back on.” He tired, but couldn’t see with his blindfold and got stuck somehow.

“Goodnight,” Din said firmly, leaving the tent.

“No, don’t,” Luke rushed to where he had heard the voice coming from. On the way over, he tripped but pushed on anyway. “Din, please, just stay.” He didn’t hear an answer. Running out of hope, he pushed forward, leaving his tent. He felt the cool night air touch his flaming cheeks, now burning with embarrassment rather than excitement.

“DIN!” he yelled into the cold night. He threw off his shirt and blindfold, looked desperately around the camp for a hint of his Mandalorian. He found none. Din was already gone.

Luke’s heart sank. He didn’t yell anymore; he didn’t want to wake the kids. He shouldn’t have yelled in the first place. Well, there’s a lot of things he shouldn’t have done. Defeated, he made his way back into his tent.

* * *

He lay there in his bed again. If he had thought his life was pitiful before, he should have just waited 10 minutes. This, though, this was truly pitiful. He couldn’t believe it.

See, before he had what was an undoubtably awkward moment. But it wasn’t, actually, in the grand scheme of things, all that bad. But this? This was the end. There was no coming back from this. And that wasn’t just him being dramatic, though he loved being dramatic.

He had moved too fast. Now Din would never trust him again. Their entire future, up in smoke. And he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t do anything other than lay there in despair.

Eventually, he collected himself. He went over to his desk, and holo called his sister. He needed some advice.

-

Din was lying in his bed, thinking about what had just happened. Why had Luke done that. I mean, they were having a good time. He liked what they were doing. Why couldn’t they have just stayed doing that.

He wondered how much of this was him and how much of it was the fact that he was a Mandalorian. Their ideas towards sex and intimacy were… unique. And also, strict. But more than anything else, complicated. And Din had no idea what to feel about all this.

Luckily, he didn’t have much time to. His radio was ringing, calling him up. He wasn’t going to answer it, but then he realized if he didn’t, he would have to be alone with his thoughts. He was in the cockpit by the third ring.

“Hey, Mandalorian?” The voice sounded familiar.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“Mayfield,” he responded. “Listen, I have a job for you.”

“What do you mean?” Din was confused.

“Well, since I was freed, I’ve decided to make the best of my second chance,” Mayfield explained. “Strictly speaking, I don’t exist. I’ve been using that to my advantage, becoming a producer.” A producer was someone who, if a job such as a heist was happening, they would be the one who got the entire team together but not actually participate. They would be hired by whoever commissioned the job and would be their sole point of contact. Give them at least some degree of plausible deniability. Being a good producer means having a really good knowledge about the criminal underground, many different contacts that you can call on for whatever your job requires, and the ability to interact well with clients. As Din thought of it, Mayfield would actually make a pretty good producer. “I’ve got a job for you. Technically speaking, it’s just transportation. But you also need to be ready to fight if things go pear shaped.”

“When’s the job?” Din asked.

“That’s the bad news,” Mayfield said. “I would need you right now.”

“ _Now_ now?”

“Yeah.” Din could hear Mayfield sigh. “Our pilot dropped out last minute, we really need someone quick. But I’d pay you an extra half share for your trouble.”

“I’m injured,” Din said. “I’ve got a tear in my right shoulder.”

“I’ve seen you in action. You’re more deadly with one hand than most people are with their entire body. I’m not too worried. Besides, like I said you’re only for if things go wrong.”

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Din agreed. “Send me the co-ordinates.”

“Sure. When will you get here, do you think?”

“Shouldn’t be more take me more than a few hours,” Din said, reading the coordinates. “I just have a few things to take care of before I go.”

-

“So that’s basically it,” Luke had just finished summarizing the events of the night for his sister. “Please don’t tell me I’m an idiot, I already know that bit.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Leia assured her brother. “Well, you are, but not in this specific case. In this case you were just really rash. You acted without thinking of the consequences.”

Luke slumped down in his chair. “I know.”

“The thing you have to remember about Mandalorians is that their idea about sex and romance are very different. Many believe that sex shouldn’t happen at all unless strictly within the bounds of marriage and for the purposes of raising a child.”

“So we’re never going to have sex!”

“Not necessarily,” Leia explained. “There are those that have relations outside marriage, but they don’t enter into them lightly.”

“What are you saying I should do?”

“Tomorrow, apologize profusely,” Leia instructed. “It will probably be in front of Grogu since I couldn’t imagine he would want to be alone with you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to be realistic,” Leia explained. “Once you apologize, say ‘I hope this won’t negatively affect our relationship going forward.’ It’s perfect, because if he thinks of you as a friend then you just want to be friends again but if he thinks of you as more than a friend than you’re saying you want to continue to build that with him. And if he doesn’t know what to think, then you’re saying you’re with him whatever he wants. Get it?”

“I get it.” Having a plan helped sooth his nerves. “Thanks.”

“Hey, what else are sisters for?”

“One last thing. Please don’t tell Han about this. Or anyone, in fact. It’s kinda embarrassing, plus Din and Han don’t exactly get along.”

“I won’t,” Leia promised. “Good night, I guess.”

“Good morning, I think.” Luke terminated the call. That was their usual signoff, a riff on the different time zones they live in.

Luke went back to his bed, turned off his light, and went to sleep.

-

Din walked down the camp, up to Grogu’s tent.

“Buddy?” he called inside. “Buddy, you need to wake up.” His good arm gently shook the little guy to wake him up. He looked up at his father with wide eyes, wondering what was happening. “I’m sorry kid, I have to go.” Grogu waddled forward. Din picked him up and wrapped him up in his arm. “I wish I could stay; I do. But I just can’t.” Grogu looked up at Din, and Din could kind of sense what he was concerned about. “Don’t worry, I’ll be safe. I’m just the driver on this job, no fighting at all.” Din could sense Grogu’s concerns were soothed, somewhat. “I promise I will come back. I’m always going to come back. You know that, right? That I’m always going to keep coming back to you?” Din knew that Grogu did.

Then Din glanced over at the instructor’s tent. He should tell Luke he was going, shouldn’t he? He shouldn’t though. For one, the lights in Luke’s tent had gone out so he’s probably asleep. But even if it was, the idea of returning to that tent didn’t seem particularly appealing. Still, Luke ought to know.

“Hey kid, do me a favor? Tell Lu- Master Skywalker that I had to go. Tell him that I really did, that there wasn’t really any other choice. Tell him…” Din had no idea what to say next. That he was sorry? That he still wanted to be with Luke? That he was sorry, but they could never be together? Din didn’t know. And more to the point, Din didn’t want this message to be delivered via his son. “Never mind. Just tell him the first bit.”

Din and Grogu said a sorry good bye. Grogu fell asleep in Din’s arm and Din put him back into his tent. It was a sad sight. But Din had to keep moving. He got in his ship and flew away.

-

The next morning, Luke woke up ready to start the day. He got everyone up and read to go. Din wasn’t there to light the fire, though. That was odd since usually did it. Maybe he was just sleeping in. Maybe he was avoiding Luke. Either way, they had to get on with their day. 

They made their way up for morning meditation, and Luke silently marveled at everything that had happened in just 24 hours. Then they came back down and Din still wasn’t there.

“Sani, take a friend and start on breakfast,” Luke instructed. “Grogu, do you know where your father is?”

Grogu sent him the memory of Din saying goodbye. Luke had to keep it together because all the kids were watching him but secretly, he was really hurt. Had Din left because of him? No, he wouldn’t leave his son just to avoid Luke. He was telling the truth about the job. But Luke couldn’t feel like he somehow contributed to Din leaving. And that thought made his heart sink.

Then Grogu showed him another memory, one of Din promising that he will always come back. Luke looked at Grogu with appreciation. Din would come back. And Luke could just apologize to him then. And everything would be right again.

It would all work out, right?

Right?


End file.
